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Updated January 21, 2025 at 17:00 PM ET
Throughout his 2024 campaign for president, Donald Trump repeatedly promised to give pardons to his supporters who had been criminally charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. But up until the moment he reentered the Oval Office on Monday night, his exact plans remained vague. Even his Vice President, JD Vance, appeared to be unaware of the new president's plan as recently as Jan. 12.
In the end, Trump granted clemency to every defendant accused of committing crimes that day, including those convicted of brutal assaults on police officers.
More than 1,500 people who had been charged in connection with the attack, received a "full, complete and unconditional pardon."
14 people — all of whom were linked to the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, extremist groups that planned elements of the attack — received commutations. While those defendants' felony convictions will stand, Trump cleared the path for their imminent release from prison. Meanwhile, in federal court in Washington, D.C., Trump's new appointee at the Justice Department began filing motions to dismiss ongoing cases related to Jan. 6.
Trump's written proclamation announcing his decision stated that he was ending a "grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and begins a process of national reconciliation."
Jan. 6 defendants and their families celebrated Trump's actions. Jacob Chansley, the convicted rioter widely described as the "QAnon Shaman," posted on social media, "THANK YOU PRESIDENT TRUMP!!! NOW I AM GONNA BUY SOME MOTHA FU*KIN GUNS!!!"
Police officers who were injured by the rioters on Jan. 6 condemned Trump's action as a "betrayal."
"It's a miserable miscarriage of justice," said former Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, who was repeatedly assaulted that day.
Gonell told NPR that he was set to appear in court for the sentencing of a man who attacked him with a PVC pipe. That sentencing is now canceled. And in the hours since Trump signed the pardon proclamation, Gonell said his phone had repeatedly buzzed as the Justice Department notified him that people who had physically attacked him were being released from prison.
"All this hard work, all these investigations, all the efforts to bring justice and accountability have been erased," he said.
Matthew Graves led the office that prosecuted all of the Jan. 6 cases. He told NPR, "there's no wiping out the public record, there's no undoing these prosecutions."
Over 1,100 people had already pleaded guilty or been convicted at trial, and sentenced in connection with these cases. Most had finished their punishments, except for those who were serving longer sentences for engaging in violence at the Capitol, Graves said.
"The actions taken by the President disproportionately benefit the most violent among the mob," Graves said.
The FBI under its previous director, Trump-appointee Christopher Wray, called the Jan. 6 attack an act of domestic terrorism. The Department of Justice estimated that more than 140 police officers were injured by the pro-Trump mob. Officers have described injuries from the attack including cracked ribs, traumatic brain injuries, smashed spinal discs and a heart attack. In several cases, officers have said they're still coping with post-traumatic stress from the hourslong violent assault.
Rioters used bats, flags, chemical sprays, poles and stolen police shields and batons to beat officers. Several rioters were convicted of charges for carrying loaded firearms in the melee. In the four years after the insurrection, prosecutors brought charges against more than 1,500 people. Many of those charged said that they stormed the U.S. Capitol specifically because they believed Trump supported their actions. Most defendants pleaded guilty to the charges they faced. Prosecutors obtained guilty verdicts in nearly all of the cases that went to trial.
A majority of defendants were charged with nonviolent crimes related to breaching the Capitol building. But prosecutors brought more than 400 cases for alleged violence.
Earlier this month, the Trump team appeared to signal that those defendants would be treated differently.
Vice President JD Vance told Fox News that "if you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn't be pardoned." Pam Bondi, Trump's pick for Attorney General, also said in her confirmation hearing that "I condemn any violence on a law enforcement officer in this country."
Here are some of the people convicted of violence on Jan. 6, who received "full, complete and unconditional" pardons from Trump:
David Dempsey was convicted of repeatedly assaulting police officers with pepper spray, a metal crutch and wooden and metal poles. "For over one hour, defendant David Dempsey viciously assaulted and injured police officers," federal prosecutors wrote. Metropolitan Police Department Detective Phuson Nguyen testified that after Dempsey pepper sprayed him, he was knocked down, and "I thought that's, you know, where I'm going to die. And in my head, you know, I was thinking about my family at that point before anything else." Dempsey was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Julian Khater pleaded guilty to pepper spraying Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick in the face. Later that night, Sicknick collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. He died the following day. According to the Washington, D.C. medical examiner, Sicknick's death was due to "natural causes" — two strokes — but "all that transpired played a role in his condition." Sicknick's mother, Gladys, spoke at Khater's sentencing hearing. "Lawlessness, misplaced loyalty to a deranged autocratic ideal, and hate killed my son," she told the court. "And I hope you are haunted by your crimes behind bars. Whatever jail time you receive is not enough in my eyes." Khater was sentenced to more than six years in prison.
Christian Matthew Manley pleaded guilty to assaulting police with two cans of bear spray, and throwing an empty canister at officers. Manley then threw a metal rod at officers. Federal judge Tanya Chutkan told Manley at his sentencing hearing that, "there has to be an understanding that participating, taking up arms against law enforcement, taking up arms to basically try and overthrow the government, is going to be met with severe punishment." Manley was sentenced to more than four years in prison.
Patrick Edward McCaughey III was convicted of using a police riot shield to "crush" Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges in a metal doorframe, leaving Hodges trapped, bleeding and crying for help from his fellow officers. "If I was there much longer being assaulted in such a way, I knew that it was very likely I wouldn't be able to maintain my consciousness," Hodges testified. "Your actions on January 6 were some of the most egregious crimes that were committed that day," federal judge Trevor McFadden told McCaughey before sentencing him to more than seven years in prison.
Ryan Nichols pleaded guilty to pepper spraying police officers and urging rioters through a bullhorn to storm the building. "This is not a peaceful protest," he yelled, according to prosecutors. "If you have a weapon, you need to get your weapon!" Later that night, Nichols recorded a video of himself calling for a second American Revolution and stating, "if you want to know where Ryan Nichols stands, Ryan Nichols stands for violence." Nichols was sentenced to more than five years in prison.
Christopher Quaglin was convicted at trial of "viciously assaulting police officers for hours," according to federal prosecutors. "On at least a dozen occasions, Quaglin stood face-to-face with officers as he screamed at, pushed with outstretched arms, punched, swatted, and
slapped officers; pushed bike racks into officers; and even choked one officer to the ground," prosecutors stated. Quaglin was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Daniel Rodriguez pleaded guilty to using a stun gun and "plunging it" multiple times into a police officer Michael Fanone's neck, in the words of prosecutors, leading Fanone to scream out in pain. "During those moments, I remember thinking that there was a very good chance that I would be torn apart or be shot to death with my own weapon," Fanone testified to Congress. Rodriguez was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison.
Peter Schwartz was convicted of stealing pepper spray from police officers, distributing the canisters to other rioters and "indiscriminately" spraying law enforcement, according to prosecutors. Court documents from the Justice Department described him as a "a welder by trade and a felon who has racked up numerous convictions for drugs, weapons, and violence over the last three decades." The day after the riot, he allegedly posted on Facebook, "What happened yesterday was the opening of a war. I was there and whether people will acknowledge it or not we are now at war." Schwartz was sentenced to more than 14 years in prison.
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